With TV, Cinema In Doldrums, Brands To Milk Booming OTT Space For Advertising

With the lockdown set in place and the permanent reshuffling of old content on television, OTT platforms have observed a surge in popularity with an estimated 3 – 4 million new viewers. And with it came another surge, this time in spending money by big-name brands to advertise their services/products on Indian streaming platforms such as Zee5, SonyLiv, Voot, etc. But American OTTs like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are subscription led platforms and don’t allow adverts.

With at least half the country indoors, their source of entertainment have come from Television and YouTube for a time but with absence in shooting for a while, the absence of content stagnates and people have shifted to OTT for fresh content. And industries specializing in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), online classes, gaming, BFSI and e-commerce have taken notice and increased their spending on ads shown on these streaming platforms. Many would have seen a resurgence in ads, by companies like ITC and Byju’s Learning App.

The packaged consumer goods company ITC, has increased its expenditure of sales on digital platforms from less than 5% last year to almost 15% this year on it’s portfolio of FMCG brands. For OTTs during lockdown alone, there has been a rise in expenditure from 5-7% pre-lockdown to 15-18% during and ’post-lockdown’. This information was provided by Shuvadip Banerjee, vice president of marketing services, ITC. They are even planning on branching into content integration, sponsorship and customized content-based shows.

Before Covid-19, the company was advertising digitally through YouTube and on other social platforms. With people shifting their focus on to OTT for content, ITC has also shifted their focus to send out their ads to as many people as possible. Even before Covid, Platforms such as Disney+Hotstar and SonyLiv have been making money on ads while live streaming sports. During the 2019 edition of IPL, Disney+Hotstar got Rupees 300 crore just for advertisements. It is expected to double this year, with more brand companies fighting over good air time.